“I was not really frustrated yesterday. Crashes happen,” he said philosophically, “but it’s a great morale booster to be able to win as early as the second stage.

“The Tour of Turkey is a nice race, it is getting bigger every day and it is lucky to have all these great sprinters coming here to prepare for the Giro. It’s not often that you have a race like this with most of the greatest sprinters in the world. I’m here to start my preparation for the rest of the season leading up to the Tour de France and it’s a good start.”

Greipel manoeuvered himself well to ensure that he grabbed the stage victory. He picked the right wheels and when he opened his sprint, he powered clear to win.

“My team-mates did a great job of keeping me near the front. There are four neo-pros in the team so it is difficult for them to put themselves in a lead-out position,” he said. “In the finale it was up to me to finish the job.”

Overnight leader Theo Bos finished back in 101st, a split in the bunch costing him six seconds. When the time bonuses were factored into the general classification time, Goss ended the stage two seconds clear of Greipel and eight ahead of both Pelucchi and Bos.

“I’d rather have the stage win than the jersey but I’m happy to be in the lead,” said Goss. “We came here as a team to try and work out the lead-out and that’s going pretty well. Brett Lancaster did a fantastic job from one kilometre out but Andre got that jump and I couldn’t shut that gap back down.

“It’s only a matter of time until I get my first win of the year. I’m second again, so I’m close! I hope I’ll be a winner soon. I’m getting better and better.”

Twenty five kilometers after the start, Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana), Tony Hurel (Europcar), Laslo Bodrogi (TT1 Sanofi) and Adrian Hegyvary (UnitedHealthcare Maxxis) became the first move to succeed in breaking the elastic. Their move didn’t last long, though, although a persistent Bodrogi got clear in another escape after approximately 48 kilometres.

The gap quickly went up to two and a half minutes and continued to grow. Vinokourov took the intermediate sprint in Manavgat (km 53.7), beating Locatelli to the line but, 40 kilometres later, it was Bodrogi who took the Turkish Beauty sprint at Aspendos.

That put him into the white jersey, one he’d like to keep all the way to the race conclusion. He accepts that there’s a lot of racing left ahead, though, so nothing is certain. “I know the Tour of Turkey well enough from last year to be aware that the Turkish Beauty jersey is a hard one to defend because you have breakaways every day,” he explained. “If I’m in a position at some other time in the race to be in a break, I will defend this jersey, but there are too many sprinters’ teams in this race to make plans.”

In between the two intermediate sprints points, the break succeeded in opening a maximum lead of five minutes after 93 kilometres of racing. It ebbed after that, dropping to a minute and a half with thirty kilometres left, thirty seconds with ten kilometres remaining, and finally being obliterated five kilometers from the line.

That virtually guaranteed a bunch gallop and in the final acceleration to the line, Greipel proved that he is back on top. In winning the stage, he ended a two month wait since his last triumph on stage four of the Tour of Oman. He also racked up his sixth UCI-ranked victory of the season.

Both he and Goss know a tough day is in store tomorrow, though. The 148 km stage from Tekirova to Elmali finishes at the top of a 1800 metre–high first category climb, and it’s guaranteed that the general classification will be completely transformed.

Goss is now in the turquoise race leader’s jersey, but his tenure will be a very short one. Like Greipel, Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano), Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini Selle Italia), Bos and the other sprinters, he will simply seek to remain within the time limit and then chase another victory late this week.

Pelucchi will also be in the same boat, and has taken encouragement from today’s finish. “I’m really happy. To finish third behind sprint giants like Greipel and Goss, it’s flattering,” he said, thanking his team-mate Brett Lancaster for his help in the finale. “I’m in great shape and the team supports me well.”